Electric plug ejector



March 28, 1961 C|V|TELL| ETAL 2,977,564

ELECTRIC PLUG EJECTOR Filed May 19, 1958 United States Patent 2,911,564 r ELECTRIC PLUG EJECTOR Gerinaro Civitelli, 36 Bradley Ave, and zen s. Ochin,

98 Beacon St., both ofHamden, Conn.

Filed May 19, 1958, Ser. No. 736,301 2 Claims. C 339-45 connection between the cord and the prong elements of the plug.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section showing the relative arrangement of the pull or release member omitting all but a fragment of the electric cord;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the release or ejector member and the relation between this member and the electric plug and its cord;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the release member looking from the left of Fig. l, omitting the plug an the connector cord; and t Fig. 4 shows the blank used for making the release member before it takes the final form shown in the other views.

As shown in Fig. 1, a wall 5, shown in section, is provided with a socket 6 adapted to receive the spaced apart prongs 7 of an electric plug 8. A part of an electric Fig. 2 showshow the connector cord 9, passing into the interior of the plug, is extended upwardly to engage anarrowed neck portion 14 at the "upper part of the ejector member; and Fig. 2&also shows an upper portion of the cord engaged in'a notch or recess 15 at the upper end of the ejector'member. The ejector member is preferably made from a strip' or blank of sheet material which, provides electric insulation, which insulation is especially necessary -in the region, in which the prongs i a es 7 are extended intolthe socket provided in the wan. P p v Fig. 4 show'sthe blanket plastic vmaterial fromf which the ejector member is-formedtgAt the righthand end portion the ,notch'or. recess 15 istprovided, al so the neck portion 14. }At about thelmiddle' of the blank a,.clearancefaperture 16 is provided, the object of'which'will be; hereinafter mentioned, and extendingleftwardr from the Patented Mar. 28, E961 2 blank body (Fig. 4-) is a portion 11. that will eventually be placed in the location of part 11 shown in Fig. 1. Thepart 11, shown in Fig. 1, is provided with four elongated openings, as shown in Fig. 3, two of these being horizontal and the other two vertical, the object being to provide for reception of pairs of prongs in vertical arrangement or prongs in horizontal arrangement. The clearance aperture 16 in the wider middle part 11 of the'blank gradually increases in width toward the prongreceiving portion 11 The ejector member shown in the drawing by way of example is a transparent member of plastic material formed to the shape shown and having toughness and strength and a certain amount of resiliency, which qualities adapt it well to use for the indicated purposes.

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement of parts in which one prong of the plug is located above the other. Fig. 2 also shows an assembly where this same arrangement of prongs is used, the upper prong passing through an upper slot 17 of the ejector and the other prong extending through a lower slot 18. The portion 11 of the ejector is, however, provided also with vertically disposed prong slots 19 and 20.

Referring to Fig. 2, the electric cord 9, shown here, is of the flat or strip type. This cord has the part entering. the plug looped upwardly and extended around the neck portion of the ejector so that two portions of the cord engage the side notches 14 in the ejector. Moreover, this portion of the cord is continued upwardly to engage the upper end recess 15. This recess has a narrow entrance extending to the upper edge of the ejector. By this arrangement the cord is easily held in assembly with respect to the ejector member with available space to enable the operator to insert his finger between the wall. 5 and the upwardly and inwardly inclined release portion 13 of the ejector member. To efiect removal of the plug from its socket the forefinger is easily introduced into the space referred to and'it is then a very simple matter to pull the plug out of the socket.

If desired, a tongue or lug 21 may be provided upon the outer end of the part 11 and bent outwardly in a plane substantially transverse to that of the part 11, as shown in the drawings. In withdrawing the plug from the socket, the thumb of the user may rest against this lug, when the forefinger is between the portions 12 and 13, which will assist in applying an even withdrawing pull to theejector member by the user.

While the cord or strip is engaged with the ejector in the manner above described, the plug can be removed without, in any way, placing injurious strain on the cord.

The elongated clearance opening 16, previously mentioned, provides clearance for plug bodies of different sizes and shapes. ample clearancebetween the ejector me. .ber and a relatively narrow plug body. This is not the only condition that is met, however, because, as indicated in Fig. 3, a wider plug body of round cross section, indicated by a broken line and having lateral verticallydisposed prongs,

may be received partially in the slot 16 of the release member.

In the arrangement of Fig. 2, somewhat less than a complete turn, of the, cord is engaged with the neck portion i4, but if desired more cord turns or portions can be employed in this relationship for taking up slack be smaller 'than'fthis openingso thatit will always'lie flatly against the face of the socket;

. The disclosure herein is understood to be by way of.

In the Fig. 2 arrangement there isv example, and various changes in the details may be made without departure from the principles involved and the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

1. A plug ejector member formed from a flat blank and having a lower upright portion adapted to be interposed between a wall socket and a double-prong electric plug and provided with slots through which the prongs may project, said member having an approximately horizontal forwardly extending portion to be located above the plug and also having an upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion to extend toward the wall equipped with the socket, said last two portions of the member providing an approximately angular part into which a finger can be introduced for pulling the plug out of the socket, the side edges of the upwardly inclined portion being recessed inwardly to provide a neck portion of reduced width about which a conductor cord attached to the plug may be wound, a lug projecting forwardly from the lower end of the upright portion to provide a finger rest for the user in withdrawing the plug from the socket, and said forwardly extending portion having a plug clearance opening therein.

2. A plug ejector member formed from a flat blank and having a lower upright portion adapted to be interposed between a wall socket and a double-prong electric plug and provided with slots through which the prongs may project, said member having an approximately horizontal forwardly extending portion to be located above the plug and also having an upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion to extend toward the wall equipped with the socket, said last two portions of the member providing an approximately angular part into which a finger can be introduced for pulling the plug out of the socket, the side edges of the upwardly inclined portion being recessed inwardly to provide a neck portion of reduced width about which a conductor cord attached to the plug may be wound, the upper edge of said upwardly inclined portion being provided with a notch having a narrow entrance mouth to receive the conductor cord, a lug projecting forwardly from the lower end of the upright portionto provide a finger rest for the user in withdrawing the plug from the socket, and said forwardly extending portion having a plug clearance opening therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,618,723 Pearson Feb. 22, 1927 1,677,622 Dreuil July 17, 1928 2,059,283 Saar Nov. 3, 1936 2,167,541 Young July 25, 1939 2,204,939 Lyons June 18, 1940 2,438,143 Brown Mar. 23, 1948 

